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Dileep V. Mavalankar, MD, DrPH and Allan Rosenfield, MD

Dileep V. Mavalankar is with the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India. Allan Rosenfield is with the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Allan Rosenfield, MD, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, 722 W 168th St, Rm 1408, New York, NY 10032 (e-mail: ar32{at}columbia.edu).

Maternal mortality remains one of the most daunting public health problems in resource-poor settings, and reductions in maternal mortality have been identified as a prominent component of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The World Health Organization estimates that 515000 women die each year from pregnancy-related causes, and almost all of these deaths occur in developing countries.

Evidence has shown that access to and utilization of high-quality emergency obstetric care (EmOC) is central to efforts aimed at reducing maternal mortality. We analyzed health care policies that restrict access to life-saving EmOC in most resource-poor settings, focusing on examples from rural India, a country of more than 1 billion people that contributes approximately 20% to 24% of the world’s maternal deaths.

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				S. Bonu, I. Bhushan, M. Rani, and I. Anderson Incidence and correlates of 'catastrophic' maternal health care expenditure in India Health Policy Plan., November 1, 2009; 24(6): 445 - 456. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. O Parkhurst and F. Ssengooba Assessing access barriers to maternal health care: measuring bypassing to identify health centre needs in rural Uganda Health Policy Plan., September 1, 2009; 24(5): 377 - 384. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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